Baughn comments on The 9/11 Meta-Truther Conspiracy Theory - Less Wrong

43 Post author: Eliezer_Yudkowsky 22 December 2009 06:59PM

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Comment author: MichaelVassar 24 December 2009 02:39:30PM 7 points [-]

It's a rare talent to stop at the right time. Skilled art teachers for small children can produce surprisingly good paintings by applying it well. Without it, one gets Atlas Shrugged, or Lord of the Rings the movie, which whatever their artistic merits, could have been considerably improved just by ending them earlier.

Comment author: Baughn 25 December 2009 02:41:04AM 0 points [-]

The story is certainly more powerful because he stopped when he did, but it's missing any sense of closure.

Your mileage will vary on what the correct tradeoff is, there. Personally, I find this kind of ending very unsatisfying. It makes me want to write fanfiction.